Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 5

Unknown date – Unknown Location

Darcy blinked blearily up at the bright lights that surrounded her. No sooner had she climbed down the fire escape and headed down an alley when her vision went completely black.

Her head was currently killing her. Most likely a concussion. Strong bindings held her to the metal table beneath her, but she didn't try to struggle. She didn't want them to think that she didn't come willingly.

If she could resort to being Sirena, she might gain enough trust to be used once more. Possibly enough to gain access to other HYDRA locations that she could systematically take out.

Eradicating HYDRA for good.

For her.

For Bucky.

"You're saying that you found her near Stark Tower? Did you sweep her for bugs, implants?"

"Of course, Mr. Pierce. The only thing we found was a birth control implant and that's been removed just to be safe. She seems to remember her programming as well."

Darcy struggled to control her heartbeat. Any sign of distress and she'd be found out. Letting Sirena creep to the forefront of her mind, she slowly slipped backwards, now an active participant instead of having her mind locked away.

She heard expensive shoes clicking against the ground before Alexander Pierce was looking down at her in disdain. "She looks the same. I guess Zola's serum is to thank for that. You said that she's been living at Stark Tower? What about Foster?" He turned and asked the doctor. "Have you done any questioning?"

"We've been waiting for you, sir."

"Sirena!"

"Ready to comply," flowed from her lips easier than she cared to admit.

Mr. Pierce cocked his head. "English, that's interesting. What do you know about the Einstein-Rosen Bridge?"

"Dr. Jane Foster has successfully used the bridge twice, the first time being completely accidental. She has since relocated to Germany to work with other scientists of like-minds. I no longer report to her."

"Why has she been with Stark?" Mr. Pierce asked mostly to himself.

"She's close with Agent Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye. They were together in the late '80's, early '90's before she was found again." The doctor answered, removing the IV from Darcy's arm. "There's been no drugs in her system. It truly seems as if Sirena was a sleeper and decided to return back when there was no more useful information to be found."

Mr. Pierce grunted in understanding and waved a dismissive hand over her. "Put her in the chair and then stick her in cryo. I don't want her going on missions until Soldat has been found."

The doctor waited until the other man left before he looked down at Darcy curiously. "I'm not putting you back in that chair. You're complying. You're cooperating. I can't avoid putting you in cryo, but the chair will be our secret."

August 5, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower

"Steve, calm down – "

"No, Bucky! Our girl is out there somewhere. Alone. We don't know what they're doin' to her!"

Steve had been inconsolable upon finding out that Darcy was once again lost to them. What good was being Captain America if he couldn't find the love of his life?

"She's at a HYDRA facility somewhere. Most likely, they're tryin' to get as much information out of her as possible." Bucky sighed, taking a seat at the small dining room table in his and Steve's apartment. "She knew what she was gettin' herself into. She's too smart, Steve, you know that. We gotta be ready for her when she gets back. No beatin' ourselves up because we can't find her."

The blond hung his head, his voice a whisper. "What if they hurt her, Buck? What if she can't remember us again?"

"Barton said she never forgot us, not really. But, if it happens, then we'll be here to remind her. I'm not lettin' her slip through my fingers again."

"Captain, Sergeant, you're needed in Sir's office."

It took them less than five minutes to get to the designated floor – by stairs – and they were surprised at the reception waiting for them.

"Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes. Glad you could join us," Agent Coulson said as he looked up from a large file that was spread out across Tony's desk. "We might have some intel on your girl."

Steve looked around at the Avengers gathered in the room. Thor was pouring over what looked like a map while Natasha and Clint were huddled together in a corner. Bruce was sat next to Tony opposite Coulson and there were a few other SHIELD agents that he didn't recognize.

"She has decimated a facility, brother Steven," Thor said proudly, a smile tugging at his lips as he pointed to a place on the map.

Agent Coulson raised his hand slightly. "Now, we're not sure that it's her, but – "

"JARVIS, play the clip."

Suddenly there was a surveillance video playing on the table top, showing a petite brunette walking away from the fiery wreckage of the building, a pistol in one hand and a tactical knife in the other.

"She singlehandedly disabled communication between all the bases, managed to get them offline, locked everyone in a room, and set it on fire," Tony deadpanned, looking over the file that he'd slid over to him. "One hundred and seventeen casualties. Only three weapons missing from the armory – a knife, a gun, and a box of matches."

Natasha stepped forward, her arms folded across her chest. "She's letting Sirena out to play. She's being clinical and lethal about everything. We're not dealing with Darcy anymore."

Bucky jolted at the moniker and he could feel Soldat perk up in his mind.

"My lightening sister is fierce. She will return."

Bruce pulled off his glassed and rubbed his eyes. "She's moving fast. My assumption is that she wants to take them all out while they're still offline. She's using fear tactics." He shook his head. "She's using what they taught her against them."

"And there were no survivors? No one to identify if it was her?" Steve asked, pulling the file from the table and looking at what remained of the facility.

Agent Coulson hesitated for a moment. "There was one. One survivor. A doctor that was assigned to her and was supposed to put her in cryo. She put him there instead to save him. Said it was going to help with the red in her ledger."

Bucky closed his eyes. He knew that she didn't have a mean bone in her body, but he could remember how she'd been under HYDRA. There was no mercy from her that could be found. If she'd let the doctor live, then Darcy was still in there, Sirena wasn't completely in control.

"We tracked her to a secret hangar. She must've gotten coordinates and clearance codes from the facility before she dismantled it. She's heading to Europe – at least that's what the doctor believes. He…he also gave us some intel about someone he was working for."

Tony threw down an open file, showcasing the face of the Secretary Alexander Pierce, second in charge of SHIELD and the World Council. "This son of a bitch is behind everything. Coulson is here as a favor – SHIELD can't know about it. We're not using SHIELD resources, employees, nothing. We can't trust them, Cap. Fury's been AWOL since the facility went down. We can't trust anyone."

Bucky stood defensively. "Then why are we here? How do we know that he," jerking his thumb towards Agent Coulson, "Isn't going to go after her?" He turned towards Steve, "We gotta keep her safe."

Natasha nodded. "Wheels up in ten, boys. Coulson, we won't be checking in this time."

Agent Coulson sighed. "Understood, Romanoff. I recommend switching off your tracker."

She gave him a wicked look. "It's been off since I stepped foot in the tower."

Unknown date – Bulgaria – HYDRA Facility

Darcy crashed through the vents right behind the smoke grenade she had tossed down. A bullet whizzed passed her ear and she wasted no time un-holstering her weapon and shooting it with deadly precision. A thump of a body hitting the floor had her pressing a button on the small device she'd rigged up, effectively closing off the facility. No one would be getting in or out.

Another button had tear gas dropping from the designated areas she'd set it up in only hours before. With three additional bullets, she'd dropped the rest of the agents in the room and she shouldered her way out the door, her gun at eye level.

She'd already cleared the control room, clearing out the bodies and rustling up any files that she deemed important, including popping a flash drive into one of the computers and downloading everything. Before she started the blaze that would consume the entire facility from the inside out.

A bullet lodged its way into her left shoulder and she clenched her teeth to avoid crying out. Instead, she spun around and took a knee, firing a single shot and taking down the asshole that shot her.

Her skin was already trying to heal as she lifted herself into the designated vent that would be her escape route. When she was far enough from the facility, she pressed the remaining button on the device, hearing the muffled booms that meant the building was collapsing. Debris poured from the sky and Darcy vanished as if she'd never been there at all.

August 29, 2012 – Bulgaria

"She rigged it from the inside. Must've scoped it for a few days," Tony said as he looked down at the blurry pictures Clint had managed to take after tracking down the smoking wreckage. "Clean job, too. SHIELD's all over it, counted a few dozen casualties."

"Computer's were shot, though," Clint grunted as he looked up from the laptop he was trying to coerce into reading his flash drive. "Darce fucked 'em up good after she got what she wanted."

Steve sighed. "She's hitting the main facilities. If we can start with the feeder ones, than it'll get done a lot quicker."

"Already ahead of you," Tony smirked, pulling up a map on his tablet. "JARVIS was able to get into their computers the second Darcy accessed them and pulled a map. We've got about a dozen feeders all over the country, little ones, less than a hundred agents a piece. There's only three main ones left and she's got them under control. None of them have access to each other, so they're all going in blind."

They were holed up in one of Tony's family's properties that had long since been off any sort of map. While Clint and Natasha were out scouting as much as they could, Tony, Steve, and Bucky planned strategies. Which the latter was less than thrilled about.

Bucky longed to get out and start taking down HYDRA with his bare hands, but Darcy was already doing that. He'd settled for feeder facilities if he had to. As long as she ended up coming back to him. To them.

"Get your gear together, boys. We've got some Nazi-scum to get rid of."

September 19, 2012 – Unknown Location

Darcy's body was thrumming with adrenaline. It was the final base that needed to be destroyed. The final one before HYDRA – including its underground networking, because she'd dismantled that with ease – was eradicated all together. The only person she'd yet to catch was Alexander Pierce, but that would come with time. And she'd rather that he be tried before the Supreme Court and imprisoned for a very long time.

When she found out that the feeder facilities were being targeted, she was worried. But after keeping an ear to the ground, she deduced it was the Avengers helping her out. Thankfully. She didn't want any more red in her ledger than necessary.

Darcy had been scoping out the facility for almost a week, watching the patterns and trying to gain all the information on all the inner workings that she could. From what she could tell, Wednesdays were the only day where everyone was accounted for in the facility. And that's what she needed for maximum impact.

After this, she could go home. Go back to Steve and Bucky. Live out the life as an Avenger and then they would all eventually retire without the threat of HYDRA held over their heads. Well, once Pierce was taken care of.

When the last car pulled in, Darcy got into place.

She had a battle to finish.

Darcy glanced over her shoulder, wiping her hand against her cheek and grimacing when it came back red. This facility had proven to be the most well protected that she'd come across so far. They'd put up a fight, but she had went through all her bullets, her blade was now dull, and her joints were aching like no other. She was pretty sure that she needed stitches along her thigh and her shoulder set, but she was almost there. There was no hesitation as she pressed the final button on her small remote, watching with grim satisfaction as the entire facility imploded behind her.

She took a deep breath, ignoring the twinge of pain that shot through her ribs.

Darcy was free.

And she was going home.

October 1, 2012 – Manhattan, New York – Stark Tower

"If I'm ever crammed in a quinjet with Barnes again, please shoot me," Tony snarked, rolling his shoulders as he fought his way out of the jet first. He was the only one that knew that Darcy was back at the tower, thanks to JARVIS. And he was trying extremely hard not to let the cat out of the bag to her super soldier counterparts.

Barnes scoffed. "Likewise, tin man."

"Both of you shut it," Rogers barked, shouldering his shield easily. "Clint, see if you can pick anything up on Darcy's tracker, Nat look to see if there's been any move on Pierce. I'm going to grab a shower and then check out some HYDRA intel that came through early this morning."

Tony gave a half-hearted wave and got himself in the tower, up the elevator, and into his penthouse as quick as possible without giving anything away.

And there she was, curled up in the spare room – read: her own wing – that he'd gifted her. There was a black bag stuffed to overflowing near the door and a haphazard stack of files that looked like they had been read through more times than could be counted.

He didn't really linger near the door. He gave JARVIS a small order for tea and made his way to her bed, taking a seat next to her. His hand stroked back her messy curls, putting her beautiful face on display. Normally, there wasn't a chance that he could really compare their similarities without being under a microscope – he was sure that Pepper thought that he was trying to get in her pants by the amount of times that she caught him staring.

They had the same nose, the same cluster of freckles beneath their left ears. Her lips were more plush and plump than his were, but they had the same color hair, albeit her curls were something of beauty.

Darcy moaned softly and turned into his touch. "Mmm, Tony?"

"Hey, sweetheart," he said softly, tucking a curl behind her ear. "How're you feeling? Did you have medical look you over?"

She nodded, lightly tracing the stitches that were almost dissolved in her cheek. "They gave me fluids and stitched me up. Shoved my shoulder back in place, too." She sighed and moved onto her back, staring up at him with wide blue eyes. "I need to find Pierce, Tony. He's the final piece."

"He went underground. I'm getting Pepper on it, though. Romanoff's working, too. Don't worry, sweetheart, we'll get him."

She smiled sadly, looking up at him. "Why're you so nice to me, Tony? Why haven't you told Steve and Bucky that I'm here? You could've. I mean, I would've understood – "

"Darcy," he shook his head. "You're my little girl. I know it's crazy, but I ran the tests, did the blood work. You're my daughter. I don't know how or why, but you are. And I'd do anything for you, sweetheart. Your safety is my priority. Hell, I've already made you a damned suit."

She sat up, her hands shaking. "Tony…I really don't know how that's possible."

"And I don't really care. You're already written into my will, soul heir of Stark Industries and all that junk." Tony shrugged, leaning over and kissing her forehead. "Just let me know when you want the geriatric wonder twins to know you're here and I'll take care of everything else."

Darcy laid back down, too tired to think of semantics or anything that required too much brainpower. Her head was against his chest, feeling the arc reactor pulse beneath her cheek.

"Get some sleep, sweetheart," he murmured, wrapping his arm around her as he settled in with his tablet.

It was barely sunrise when she felt Clint climb into bed behind her. Darcy only knew it was him because of the way his breath smelt of coffee and the way he nuzzled his prickly face against the back of her neck. One arm wound its way around her waist and she snuggled back again him.

"How long?" She whispered, her voice scratchy from blubbering over Tony the night before. Was it really just a few hours ago?

"I knew as soon as you got here. Tony's shit at keeping a poker face. I should use that to my advantage at some point." He was quiet for a beat before he sighed, disturbing the hair at the nape of her neck. "Medical omitted you from the records, too. Your stitches are healing nice, too." Clint brushed his fingers over her shoulder, exposed by the large shirt she'd shrugged on. One of his, he was sure.

Darcy shifted onto her back and looked up at familiar green eyes. "Has Talia dug up anything on Pierce?"

"Before getting into that, you know how kick-ass you were, right? It was hard as hell to get any footage on it, but Tony scrounged some stuff up. You…you were something, Darce."

She sighed. "I thought I took care of all the cameras."

"JARVIS has access to almost everything."

They were both quiet. Her eyes plastered to the ceiling and his on her. She was beautiful like this. Swollen lips and cheeks rosy from sleep. Her hair was tangled wildly and she had such a fierce look of determination in her eyes that at that moment he swore that he'd do anything to see her smiling again. To see her looking as carefree as when she used to hang their laundry from the almost threadbare line that he'd climbed a tree to tie.

The carnival was the best time in his life. He'd run away from his shitty home life to a woman that for all intents and purposes had been an angel. Was still an angel. Darcy had taken care of him and now it was his turn to take care of her. And, goddammit, he was going to do that if it killed him.

A soft snore interrupted his thoughts and he saw that she'd fallen asleep again. He shook his head and smiled, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead before he climbed out of bed.

He had a job to do.

What did you think?

~Grace